Herzog De Meuron’s Hamburg Concert Hall Construction of 10 Years is Coming to an End

Feb 26, 2016

Construction of 10 years is coming to an end – from January 11th 2017 lovers of quality music can enjoy famous composers in the newly built concert hall in Hamburg. Construction is mostly complete; final work is still carried out on 6000 square meter wall and ceiling cladding, organ is also being in installed. In a completed form this concert hall will be the tallest inhabited building in height of 110 meters in Hamburg.

Project began in April 2nd 2007, when foundation of the building was laid. Design belongs to notorious Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron. They’ve created many known buildings worldwide, one of them being “Tate Modern” in London. At first it was planned that the building will be finished in 2010, but the date was moved to 2017; elevated 4000 square meter plaza will be open to the public in November 2016, it will offer 360 degree panoramic view of the city and harbor. After two month concert hall will be open too.

The building is a warehouse near the river Elbe built in 1960’s by architect Werner Kallmorgen. Designers renovated main brick building and added undulating glazed upper section. It consists of 1100 individual panels, size of each one of them is 4X5 meters and weighs 1.2 tons. Restoration of the façade is complete, scaffolds are mostly removed. Main works are focused on finishing the interior. Designers while developing structure of walls and ceiling conducted extensive and in-depth research. The highly dense and extremely heavy engineered gypsum fiberboard panels reflect sound, which is then directed and scattered by the countless seashell-shaped depressions. Surface like this improves concert hall acoustically. Distance between artists and the audience is maximum 30 meters, which makes experience more intensive. Ceiling is decorative and looks like a tent. Building’s roof was strengthened waterproofed in August 2014. Project involves not only three concert halls, one of which is main auditorium with 2150 seats, but also hotel with 250 rooms and residential area with 45 units.

In the beginning project budget was 77 million euros, but after changing completion date, numbers increased and nowadays it’s 789 million euros. Of course, part of it will be paid by investors, but still it’s a large number for the city and generally, for the country too. From the start this project met many difficulties, in 2011 it was even stopped, but despite all of this it was seen through and after next year new building will be added to the original ones.

Hamburg concert hall is a good example how warehouse was changed into a music center to develop city’s cultural life. How piece of a modern architecture was placed in a historic part of the city and despite its height it fitted just perfectly. You can see architects’ professionalism in every detail, from works done on old brick walls to modern glass panels.